Whether it’s sly character name drops, cameos from characters and titans of real-life comics, or anything that could connect a 2025 movie like The Fantastic Four: First Steps to the vastness of the MCU, easter eggs are always on the table. The latest Marvel movie pulls from all three buckets, but it also includes some pretty deep cut connections - like director Matt Shakman’s history with Saved by the Bell.
However, I think I’ve found what’s potentially the most deep-cut reference included in this array of adventure. Should I be correct, I have to applaud both what it stands for and the manner it paid tribute.
Sue Storm: A Woman Of The Here And Now
During an early montage that fills in the backstory of the four years the Fantastic Four have been protecting the world, we see the team appear on various magazine covers heralding their exploits. One such cover is for a publication named Now Politics, with Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) pictured as a respected diplomat in the world of Earth-828.
The easter egg of the moment isn’t the multiversal designation, which does come from the birthday of Marvel Comics titan/Fantastic Four co-creator Jack Kirby. Rather, it’s the magazine, which I think takes its name from the underrated 2003 rom-com Down with Love. Spoiler alert, but at the end of that very film, Renée Zellweger starts a magazine named Now, which lovesick Ewan McGregor comes on board to write for.
Take a moment, because at this moment I’m sure you’re looking at the screen like I’m crazy. Well, true believers, if you look a little deeper into that movie’s roster, you’ll see it’s directed by one Peyton Reed. “Ok Mike,” you say as you look slightly more convinced, “what’s that got to do with the price of a Reed Tech baby monitor?” I’m glad you asked.
Peyton Reed Developed A Very Similar Fantastic Four Movie, Before Joining The MCU
Let’s take our story way back to the year 2001, when Variety announced that Mr. Reed, fresh off making Bring It On, was set to develop and direct what would eventually yield 2005’s Fantastic Four (which you can conveniently stream now, with a Disney+ subscription).
Though he’d eventually wind up in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, after Edgar Wright’s resignation from Ant-Man’s directing post, we could have had Mr. Reed directing Reed Richards a lot sooner. What’s more, when the North Carolina native described his pitch in a 2019 Q&A with Collider, it laid out a concept you might now see as somewhat familiar:
I developed it for about a year and we went through some different permutations and some different writers, but yes, one of the big ideas was a set-in-the-’60s thing that at the time was structurally gonna be basically like [The Beatles’] ‘A Hard Day’s Night,’ where we were not going to even deal with the origin story.
Now, according to a 2023 interview with THR, Peyton Reed had done some work right after making Down With Love, between the years of 2002 and 2003. So his mind was definitely in the headspace to make this sort of carefree picture happen, and that 2001 announcement may have been just a hiring notice.
However the timing shakes out, it’s unfortunate that the project never came to pass; supposedly due to creative differences. At the same time, considering First Steps took some of those ideas and ran with them, director Matt Shakman’s picture does seem to have paid this creative/spiritual debt off with this reverent reference.
In a picture that offers tributes to the entire cast of Roger Corman’s 1994 adaptation, as well as Jack Kirby himself, I am convinced that The Fantastic Four: First Steps subtly tipped its hat to Mr. Reed. Also, this is just more of an excuse for fans like me to push 20th Century Studios to finally release Down With Love on 4K and Blu-ray. So it really feels like a win-win here.
If you want to get into the know on what’s happening now in the MCU, race over to your local theater and see this retro-futuristic gem. Oh, and keep your eyes and ears peeled - you never know where the next easter egg is gonna come from.
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